


Lyon's Den

by Macdragon



Category: Empire (TV 2015)
Genre: Break Up, Curtain Fic, Domestic, Fluff, Getting Back Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-07 19:47:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5468726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Macdragon/pseuds/Macdragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What does home mean to Jamal Lyon?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lyon's Den

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Roxie Ann (pluvial_poetry)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pluvial_poetry/gifts).



Jamal stood in the center of his new penthouse apartment. So far, there was just a mattress on the hardwood floor and several cardboard boxes filled with all his belongings. He had placed an order for furniture with his father’s credit card, but it wouldn’t be delivered for several hours.

Crouching down, he opened one of the boxes. There were picture frames on top. A photograph of himself, Hakeem, and Andre at the wedding. Candid shots messing around with Hakeem. Jamal and Lucious standing next to each other at an awards ceremony, Lucious’ charming smile outshining the awkwardness shy, teenage Jamal had felt next to him. At the bottom of the pile, a picture of Jamal as a baby sitting on his mother’s knee, before she went to prison.

He sighed and dropped the picture back into the box, standing up and pacing across the floor. His footsteps echoed as he walked. Idly, he picked up his phone, checking the screen. He was surprised to see a text from a number he didn’t recognize.

_Hey, nice talking to you today. Are you free for dinner? –Michael_

In spite of his dark mood, Jamal found himself smiling. Michael was a PR intern for Empire, and they had hit it off by the water cooler this morning. On top of being smart and friendly, Michael was stunning, with dark eyes and hair, and a physique that Jamal wouldn't mind seeing more of.

 _I’m at home waiting for furniture delivery. Come over for takeout?_ He gave Michael his address. His first night in the new apartment would be much better spent with a new friend.

 

***

Over the next several months, Michael and Jamal became close friends, then lovers. It felt natural, as easy as breathing. The only strange thing was that Michael always came to visit Jamal, not the other way around. Finally, a few weeks into the relationship Jamal looked up Michael’s address in the personnel files. He knew it was wrong, but he couldn’t stifle his curiosity. He jotted down the address and headed to east Harlem to find Michael’s place.

Walking out of the subway station, Jamal was struck with a sense of nostalgia. It had been a while since he’d stepped out of the comfortable world Empire had created for him, but he hadn’t forgotten what it was like to grow up without much. The houses and apartment blocks around here had seen more wear and tear than the shiny lofts in Jamal’s new neighborhood, and there were plenty of brightly colored awnings with block letters advertising food, groceries, salons, pawn shops and more in both English and Spanish.

He stopped in front of Michael’s building, a four story walk-up with a mural painted on the brick façade. Jamal stepped up to the buzzer and rang Michael’s apartment. Garbled Spanish came out of the speaker.

“Is Michael home?” he asked.

The buzzer sounded and the door unlocked. Jamal shrugged and walked inside. The interior of the building was dimly lit and it smelled like hundred year old cigarettes. He walked up the creaky staircase to the second floor and knocked on Michael’s door.

He was relieved when Michael answered the door, rather than his roommate. Or…roommates, plural, he realized as he glanced over Michael’s shoulder and saw three people lounging around the kitchen.

“Hi,” Jamal said, suddenly shy.

“This is a surprise.” Michael crossed his arms, stepping back from the door. Jamal followed him inside. The apartment was sparsely furnished, but it smelled delicious, with something simmering on the stove.

“Sorry, um…Becky helped me look up your address,” Jamal admitted.

“Wow, stalker.” Michael was smiling, but Jamal knew him well enough by then to read the tension in his shoulders. “Let’s go in my room.”

They went down to Michael’s room. The bedroom was split down the middle with a screen, and Michael’s side just had a single twin bed and a chest of drawers. Michael sat down and the bedsprings squeaked. Jamal perched gingerly beside him.     

“Being an intern doesn’t pay that well,” Michael said, chuckling. “I guess I can’t blame you for looking up my address when I wouldn’t tell you where I lived. I was a little embarrassed.”

“Don’t be.” Jamal took his hand. “I don’t care where you live. And you know I grew up in a place like this. We didn’t always have an empire.”

“Yeah.” Michael leaned over to kiss his cheek. “There’s one other thing, though. I share a room, this bed is pretty creaky, and I can’t keep my hands off you when you’re around.”

Jamal laughed. “I might have a solution for that. You should move in with me. It’s not just about the apartment, I really want you around. What do you think?”

“I’ll start packing now.”

 

***

 

Michael moved in, bringing his few belongings in cardboard boxes. Over the next few days, they merged households, Michael’s style bringing new life to the penthouse. Jamal had worried that living with his boyfriend might be a challenge, but he felt more comfortable in the penthouse than he ever had before.

Unfortunately, it didn’t last. After taking a stand of independence, Jamal faced his choice to give up his father’s money and move into his own place. He was sure that Michael was going to walk out on him. Why would he want to come with him to whatever place he could afford now? When he told Michael the news, he steeled himself for the breakup, but instead Michael surprised him by not only agreeing to move, but pounding the pavement with him looking for a place.

As it turned out, apartment hunting in New York without the help of daddy’s connections really sucked. The first place was already rented out by the time they got there. The second turned out to be extremely misrepresented by the photos online. Another wanted a large sum of money just to reserve the apartment. It went on and on. They could only crash on Becky’s couch for so long and Jamal was beginning to worry that he would end up in a box under the Brooklyn Bridge. Anything but go begging back to his father.

He was at Cookie’s apartment when he got a text from Michael saying that he had a lead. “Gotta go, mom. We have another place to look at,” he told her.

“I can’t believe you’re looking at these roach motels!” she exclaimed as she walked him out the door, her high heels clicking on the marble floor of her own fancy apartment. “Once we’re done with your single, you won’t have to live in a place like that. Tell your boyfriend to handle the real estate so you can focus on your music!”

“Okay, mom,” Jamal said with a chuckle. Hurrying to the subway station, he made his way to Brooklyn. The hipsters hadn’t quite reached this area of the neighborhood, and things looked pretty run down. Michael was waiting on the stoop of their prospective abode, chatting with the landlord.

The place wasn’t pretty, and it might not have been that clean, either. The neighborhood wasn’t the best. But the landlord seemed honest and the apartment was available now. After a quick tour, Michael and Jamal decided to rent, and signed the lease on the spot.

“We got it!” Jamal grinned and grabbed Michael’s hand, spinning him around before kissing him. He couldn’t believe how excited he was about that shitty little apartment. It wasn’t pretty but it was _theirs_ , and that made all the difference.

 

***

 

Jamal and Michael’s apartment had its downsides. One of the worst showed up a few weeks after they moved in. Jamal was walking to the bathroom in the morning when he felt something scurry across his bare food. Looking down, he spotted the biggest cockroach he’d ever laid eyes on darting underneath the sink. He let out a yelp and ran back into the bedroom.

Michael sat up, shaking sleep from his eyes and swearing in Spanish. “What the hell!?”

“There was a bug,” Jamal said, realizing how ridiculous he sounded. “It surprised me, okay?”

The anger faded from Michael’s face and he smiled. Jamal could tell he was trying to hide his laughter. “Come on, let’s see this bug,” he said, getting out of bed and grabbing one of his boots.

Jamal followed Michael back into the bathroom. Michael turned the light on and Jamal saw movement out of the corner of his eye. There were more roaches, he realized, his stomach churning. He’d never liked them, especially not after his father made fun of him for screaming “like a girl” because he was scared of them as a kid.

Michael swung his boot down, crushing the nearest cockroach. The others were back in hiding. For now. “Thanks, babe. You’re my hero,” Jamal said, trying to make light of the situation.

Despite the brief humor, there was nothing funny about the pest problem. If it wasn’t for Michael, Jamal wasn’t sure how he would have survived the weeks of trying to control the bugs. And at the same time, he was shocked that Michael still stayed with him.

The landlord finally brought in professional help to clear out the problem just before Christmas. Things returned to normal, and they set up a Christmas tree, put up a wreath on the door and strung lights up around the windows.

“It’s perfect,” Jamal said, once they had finished decorating. He wished they could spend Christmas day together, but they both had family obligations. He picked up his phone and snapped a picture of Michael in front of the lights.

Later, it was the good times he remembered most, not the horror of the roaches and the broken appliances and the drafty apartment. But nothing could last forever. He had already learned that once and he was about to learn that again.

 

***

 

Jamal moved back into Manhattan after Michael left. His music was gaining popularity; he had success, money, the perfect apartment…everything but Michael. When he was on stage, he soaked up the attention, giving the music his all and forgetting his troubles. It wasn’t until he was home, in the empty, quiet apartment, that he remembered how lonely he was.

He thought a new lover would knock him out of his funk. Ryan was just right—handsome, charming, and creative. He was an amazing filmmaker, and he wasn’t going to feel left out when Jamal pursued his own talents.

Jamal invited him over one night, and as they sat on the couch sipping wine, he wondered what was still missing. Soon they were kissing, and Ryan’s hands moved to his belt.

“Wait—“ Jamal stopped him, moving back. He wasn’t sure why he had hesitated. Something just didn’t feel right. He couldn’t stop picturing what it would be like to have Michael back here. He just couldn’t get his head around the idea of Ryan in his home. “I have a better idea. Let’s go to the office.”

“Ohh, you’re naughty.” Ryan grinned. They headed to the Empire offices and to his new executive desk. The idea of fucking Ryan here _was_ exciting, and Jamal told himself that was the only reason he was doing it…not because he hated the idea of another man in his bed at home.

 

***

           

Ryan was fun while he lasted but when Jamal answered his door a few weeks later and found Michael standing there, looking sheepish, relief flooded over him. He pulled Michael inside and kissed him.

“So, what made you change your mind?” he asked later, when they were curled up together in bed.

“Cookie was right,” Michael said. “I needed something else to channel my passion into, so I wasn’t always clinging to you. I’ve been doing more freelance work, and I’m excited about it. But nothing compares to being with you.”

“I feel the same way.” Jamal held him close, glad that everything was settled. He had success _and_ his boyfriend back, maybe he really could have it all.

***

Then, Michael betrayed him. After their brief glimpse of happiness, it hurt that much more. When he walked outside and saw Chase with Michael, something in him broke. Not only had Michael cheated on him, it was in their own home. He didn’t waste any time before kicking Michael out. And so his apartment was back to a bachelor pad.

This time, the anger helped. That, and he was too busy to dwell. There was the picnic, the Pepsi commercial, and of course the feuding between Empire and Lyon Dynasty. 

In the midst of all the chaos he was able to enjoy a rare moment of down time visiting Andre’s new house. Rhonda gave him the full tour, showing him where the nursery was going to be and talking at length about all the decorations she planned to purchase. It was amusing how excited she was, but Jamal was looking forward to being an uncle. 

“The house is amazing, Andre,” Jamal said, looking around the impressive living room as he shared a beer on the couch with his brother. Even though the house was huge, it was easy to feel at home. “Dad did a great job picking it out.” Sure, he was a little jealous, but he wasn’t going to begrudge Andre his good fortune. 

“Yeah, it’s nice. But it’s not the house that makes me happy, it’s the idea of starting a family in it,” Andre answered.

Jamal considered that as they went to the dining hall to gather around the table for dinner. Maybe Andre was right.

That night, he called Michael. His hands were shaking as he dialed the number. He could stand on stage and sing in front of huge crowds—he actually thrived on it—but calling his ex-boyfriend turned him to jelly. 

The phone rang and he thought it was going to Voicemail, but then Michael’s voice came on the other end. “Hey,” Jamal said. There was a pause, and he took a deep breath. “Look, I’ve been thinking…I’m going to Miami for a concert sponsored by Pepsi. Want to come?” 

***

A few days later, they were relaxing on a beach in Miami, right by the ocean, drinking pina coladas. Jamal’s concert was the night before and now they had some time to relax. 

"This is paradise,” Michael said, clinking his glass against Jamal’s. They were still treading on shaky ground, but after getting away from all the chaos of New York and Empire, Jamal was beginning to feel at peace with the relationship again. 

"It doesn't matter where we are, a beautiful beach or a crappy apartment in New York. As long as I'm with you," Jamal smiled and took Michael's hand. "Then I'm home."


End file.
